20150414 - magnolia

Magnolia

 

Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol.
Magnolia is an ancient genus. Appearing before bees did, the flowers are theorized to have evolved to encourage pollination by beetles. To avoid damage from pollinating beetles, the carpels of Magnolia flowers are extremely tough. Fossilised specimens of M. acuminata have been found dating to 20 million years ago, and of plants identifiably belonging to the Magnoliaceae date to 95 million years ago. Another aspect of Magnolia considered to represent an ancestral state is the flower bud is enclosed in a bract rather than in sepals; the perianth parts are undifferentiated and called tepals rather than distinct sepals and petals. Magnolia shares the tepal characteristic with several other flowering plants near the base of the flowering plant lineage such as Amborella and Nymphaea (as well as with many more recently derived plants such as Lilium).
The natural range of Magnolia species is a disjunct distribution, with a main centre in east and southeast Asia and a secondary centre in eastern North America, Central America, the West Indies, and some species in South America.


 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia

20150413 - marathon

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres (26 miles and 385 yards)^] usually run as a road race. The event was instituted in commemoration of the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens.
The marathon was one of the original modern Olympic events in 1896, though the distance did not become standardized until 1921. More than 500 marathons are held throughout the world each year, with the vast majority of competitors being recreational athletes as larger marathons can have tens of thousands of participants


 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon
 http://www.nnmarathonrotterdam.org/event/course/
 http://www.nnmarathonrotterdam.nl/home

20150412 - garbage patch

Plastic debris in the sea, in the ocean

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean. Marine debris is litter that ends up in oceans, seas, and other large bodies of water. 



 

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also known as the Pacific trash vortex, spans waters from the West Coast of North America to Japan. The patch is actually comprised of the Western Garbage Patch, located near Japan, and the Eastern Garbage Patch, located between the U.S. states of Hawaii and California. 

 

These areas of spinning debris are linked together by the North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone, located a few hundred kilometers north of Hawaii. This convergence zone is where warm water from the South Pacific meets up with cooler water from the Arctic. The zone acts like a highway that moves debris from one patch to another.

The entire Great Pacific Garbage Patch is bounded by the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. An ocean gyre is a system of circular ocean currents formed by the Earth’s wind patterns and the forces created by the rotation of the planet. The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre is created by the interaction of the California, North Equatorial, Kuroshiro, and North Pacific currents. These four currents move in a clockwise direction around an area of 20 million square kilometers (7.7 million square miles).

 

The area in the center of a gyre tends to be very calm and stable. The circular motion of the gyre draws debris into this stable center, where it becomes trapped. A plastic water bottle discarded off the coast of California, for instance, takes the California Current south toward Mexico. There, it may catch the North Equatorial Current, which crosses the vast Pacific. Near the coast of Japan, the bottle may travel north on the powerful Kuroshiro Current. Finally, the bottle travels westward on the North Pacific Current. The gently rolling vortexes of the Eastern and Western Garbage Patches gradually draw in the bottle.

The amount of debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch accumulates because much of it is not biodegradable. Many plastics, for instance, do not wear down; they simply break into tinier and tinier pieces. 



 

For many people, the idea of a “garbage patch” conjures up images of an island of trash floating on the ocean. In reality, these patches are almost entirely made up of tiny bits of plastic, called microplastics. Microplastics can’t always be seen by the naked eye. Even satellite imagery doesn’t show a giant patch of garbage. The microplastics of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch can simply make the water look like a cloudy soup. This soup is intermixed with larger items, such as fishing gear and shoes.

The seafloor beneath the Great Pacific Garbage Patch may also be an underwater trash heap. Oceanographers and ecologists recently discovered that about 70% of marine debris actually sinks to the bottom of the ocean.

 

While oceanographers and climatologists predicted the existence of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, it was a racing boat captain by the name of Charles Moore who actually discovered the trash vortex. Moore was sailing from Hawaii to California after competing in a yachting race. Crossing the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, Moore and his crew noticed millions of pieces of plastic surrounding his ship.

 

 

 http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/?ar_a=1

20150411 - food for thought

Michael Møller Acting Director General of United Nations Office at Geneva

Food for Thought

It's hard to grapple with the fact that the food you find at grocery stores is not always safe for consumption. Food scandals happen all over the world. And much more frequently and with much larger consequences than most of us realize. In 2008, contaminated infant formula affected 300,000 babies and young children. Six of them died. In 2011, many farmers lost acres of fruit harvest as the watermelons were exploding seemingly because they were sprayed with a growth-enhancing chemical. We have seen horsemeat scandals, toxic olive oil, contaminated strawberries and sprouts, cantaloupe with listeria and pink slime full of random chemicals, and the list goes on. WHO estimates that unsafe food is linked to a staggering 2 million deaths every year! Many of them children. Over 200 diseases are caused by unsafe food containing harmful bacteria, parasites, viruses and chemical substances.
How can we trust that the food we eat is not a recipe for disaster and death?
The World Health Organization (WHO) has put the spotlight on food safety this year with a campaign launched on World Health Day last week. As a global organization, based in Geneva, the WHO works for global prevention, detection and response to the public health threats posed by unsafe food. It works with other UN agencies and partners such as the Food and Agriculture Organization to ensure appropriate measures cover processes across the entire food chain of production and consumption. The Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) works on agricultural standards that are used around the world as tons of fruit and produce are shipped from one place to another. No easy task but an important one.
Legislative frameworks and monitoring are essential building blocks for safer food. But we all have a responsibility. We, as consumers, also need to do our part. WHO has defined 'Five keys to safer food' which we should remember and act on:
• Key 1: Keep clean
• Key 2: Separate raw and cooked food
• Key 3: Cook food thoroughly
• Key 4: Keep food at safe temperatures
• Key 5: Use safe water and raw materials
Simple and easy to do on a daily basis.
Let's do our part to keep our food safe.

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-moller-/food-for-thought_b_7045410.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592

20150410 - color therapy

Color Therapy

 

It has been known for eons of time that color plays a major role in setting up a particular mood or state of mind. Color does affect one's feelings, moods, and emotions.
Colors are certain wavelengths of electro-magnetic energy seen through our eyes. The color we see is the part of the visible spectrum that is reflected back by a certain object.

• Color is one of the languages of the soul, just look at inspired or meditative paintings.
• They influence our mood and emotions.
• They have their impact on our sense of well-being or un-easiness.
• Using and avoiding certain colors is a way of self-expression; it sheds light on our personality.
• Colors affect our way of perception (light colors make a space look big, a high ceiling looks less high when painted in a dark color, etc.)
• Colors have a symbolic meaning which is immediately recognized by our subconsciousness. It must be said that not all colors mean the same to all persons and all cultures.
• They influence the flow and amount of energy in our bodies.
• Colors tell something about biological attraction and sexual availability.

Before examining color and its healing implications, we must address a very important concept: that of cause and effect. True healing comes about when the cause of the condition or illness is addressed and transformed. If healing goes no further than a mere relief or masking of the symptoms, then, eventually, that which brought about the need for healing, in the first place, will resurface and manifest itself within the body in one form or another.
Body is an outward expression of that which is taking place within the mind, the soul (subconscious) , and the spirit (superconscious) of the individual. Thus, any healing technique which deals only with the physical body and the energy field of the individual tends to accomplish one thing: it jump starts the individual, so to speak, and gives him or her an added boost of energy. That energy boost then allows that person's own internal healing mechanism to become mobilized into greater activity.
Keeping this in mind, let us look at how color can help jump-start the tired or diseased body. Color healing, known as Chromotherapy, can be implemented in a number of ways. The ancients built great halls of color healing, where individuals entered and were bathed in light that was filtered through various colored glass panels or windows.
Energy (spiritual) healers often supplement their healing work with color healing. As they lay their hands on the patient, they mentally direct specific color rays into the patient's aura and body. Oftentimes, the color used is inspired by the superconscious.
In healing colors act as balancers: we administer the color(s) someone needs more of, or we give the opposite of the color someone has too much of.


 http://www.deeptrancenow.com/colortherapy.htm

20150409 - spring

Spring is one of the four conventional temperate seasons, following winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of the term varies according to local climate, cultures and customs. When it is spring in the Northern Hemisphere, it will be autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. At the spring equinox, days are approximately 12 hours long with day length increasing as the season progresses. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and also to ideas of rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection and regrowth. Subtropical and tropical areas have climates better described in terms of other seasons, e.g. dry or wet, monsoonal or cyclonic. Often the cultures have locally defined names for seasons which have little equivalence to the terms originating in Europe.

20150408 - vigorous exercise

Short bursts of vigorous exercise helps prevent early death, says study

Scientists found that those who engaged in some kind of vigorous exercise such as jogging lived longer on average than those who exercised gently

Short spurts of vigorous exercise that get you out of breath are better than longer bouts of gentle exercise when it comes to preventing an early death, according to a study of middle-aged men and women.

Scientists followed more than 200,000 people for six years and found that those who engaged in some kind of vigorous exercise such as jogging or aerobics lived longer on average than those who exercised gently.
The researchers believe the effect was statistically significant, lowering the risk of premature death by between 9 and 13 per cent compared to those who undertook moderate exercise only, such as gentle swimming or household chores.
The findings contradict the basic assumption of current health advice which is that two minutes of moderate exercise is roughly equivalent in terms of health benefits to one minute of vigorous exercise, said the researchers.
Current World Health Organisation guidelines, adopted in the UK, are that adults should exercise with moderate activity for 150 minutes per week or 75 minutes if the activities are vigorous, said Melody Ding of the University of Sydney, a co-author of the study.
“The guidelines leave individuals to choose their level of exercise intensity, or a combination of levels, with two minutes of moderate exercise considered the equivalent of one minute of vigorous activity,” Dr Ding said.
“It might not be the simple two-for-one swap that is the basis of current guidelines. Our research indicates that encouraging vigorous activities may help to avoid preventable deaths at an earlier age,” she said.


 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/short-spurts-of-vigorous-exercise-helps-prevent-early-death-says-study-10158073.html